July 23 is commemorated as National Children’s Day, which serves as a reminder of the importance in ensuring the fulfilment of children’s rights and protection. According to Law No. 23 of 2002, a child is defined as anyone under the age of 18, including those still in the womb.
Understanding children’s rights is crucial, not only for parents but for everyone, because children are vulnerable individuals who need external parties (not just parents) to ensure their rights are fulfilled. This way, children are protected from harm and can have a good future. Parents, of course, play a larger role, especially in ensuring children’s access to education and health services. Below is a more detailed discussion of children’s rights.
Four Categories of Children’s Rights
Every child has the same (and non‑revocable) rights to live a healthy life, receive proper education, and enjoy a safe childhood. Specifically, the UN General Assembly adopted 54 articles in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, which outline civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. Here are the four pillars of children’s rights:
Right to Survival
At birth, children have the right to identity, nationality, and a birth certificate. To ensure survival, parents are obliged to provide care, access to nutritious food, shelter, and health services. Beyond parents, the government also plays a role by providing basic services such as healthcare, age‑appropriate nutrition, clean drinking water, and safe housing.
In Indonesia, the biggest challenges are tackling stunting and malnutrition, which remain uneven across regions, especially in remote and coastal areas. Without proper nutrition and clear identity from an early age, children from marginalised groups will struggle to access social security later in life.
Right to Development
This right ensures children can develop their physical, mental, and moral potential according to their age stages. One of the most important aspects is access to quality education, both formal and informal. Play opportunities are also a child’s right, serving as a way to foster creativity, problem‑solving, and thinking capacity.
Skills and knowledge gained early in life form the foundation for children’s future opportunities. However, access to education remains a major challenge, whether due to limited facilities in remote areas or financial constraints. Some children still drop out of school and work to help support their families.
Right to Protection
This right ensures children are safe from all forms of crime, discrimination, exploitation, neglect, and mistreatment that could harm them physically or psychologically. As mentioned earlier, financial barriers sometimes force children out of school and into work at a young age. Children aged 13 and above may be given light work, provided it is not harmful to their health or development and does not interfere with their schooling.
In more extreme cases, children must be protected from dangerous substances, drugs, human trafficking, smuggling, kidnapping, sexual abuse, and all forms of exploitation. We have previously discussed the dangers of child grooming. In addition, with today’s ease of digital access, children also need protection in the digital world.
Right to Participation
Although children’s lives depend on parents or family, they also have the right to express opinions and views, especially in decisions that affect them. Children’s opinions should be considered according to their age and maturity.
In general, the implementation of children’s participation rights still needs improvement, as culturally children are often seen as lacking the capacity to make decisions. This perspective must gradually shift so that children gain confidence and courage to express their views from an early age. In relation to growth, children will become more self‑assured individuals if they feel safe to participate in discussions and voice opinions early on.
The four basic rights mentioned must run in parallel, not separately or alternately. However, KOMIt Foundation recognises that there are still many inequalities in practice and reality on the ground, especially due to financial barriers and geographic disparities, particularly for marginalised groups.
Therefore, in line with our focus, KOMIt Foundation is committed to empowering marginalised groups through our programmes. We believe that by providing a fair and safe environment for marginalised communities, this will positively impact family dynamics and, importantly, the welfare and fulfilment of children’s rights.